U.S. Supreme Court orders reduction in Exxon Valdez award

Market Watch ^ | 06/25/2008 | Mark H. Anderson

[Responsibility2nd]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Supreme Court, in a fractured ruling, said punitive damages are allowed in a lawsuit over the 1989 Valdez oil spill but that lower courts should reduce the $2.5 billion award.

Justice David Souter, in the court's majority opinion, said the punitive damages award should be brought into line with $287 million in compensatory damages awarded against Exxon in the lawsuit. "The award here should be limited to an amount equal to compensatory damages," Souter wrote.

The high court otherwise split evenly 4-4 on an important maritime law question in the case but concluded that federal environmental laws don't bar punitive damages against the oil giant.

The Exxon Valdez spilled millions of gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound almost 19 years ago in one of the largest environmental accidents in U.S. history. The company has paid over $3.4 billion in remediation, fines, compensation and other costs.

[Responsibility2nd]

Great. First the Court reduces the damages from 4.5 Billion Dollars to 2.5 Billion.

Now they are basically slapping Exxon on the wrist for $287 million.

And - I'm sure - Exxon will drag that through the courts for another 5 years.

[bill1952]

Its great news for expanding drilling and getting the enviro wackos out of the legal system.

The punitive damages were nonsense from the beginning and this ruling is correct, despite your anti business viewpoint.

[dblshot]

Great indeed. Alaska residents and the federal gov’t get royalties from oil and if it can’t be shipped it’s worthless. Emotional punitive damage awards make it too risky to transport oil. Pay for the clean up should be enough to discourage negligence.

[Unlikely Hero]

Great! Now gas prices will come down.

/sarc

[Westlander]

To celebrate this ruling I’ll just drive by the Mobil gas station and throw money out the window.

[cherry]

I was for the award.......but I am prejudiced because I have a small bit player in the family with the “firm”...

[hosepipe]

Exxon is waiting for the other remaining ligigants DIE..
AND for a more global corporation friendly Court.. under the democrats..

You know even more friendly than they are under George Bush.. a known stone globalist..

[icwhatudo]

"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also dissented, saying the court was engaging in "lawmaking" by concluding that punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses.

"The new law made by the court should have been left to Congress," wrote Ginsburg."

ROTFLMAO What a hypocrite!

[SJSAMPLE]

Exxon paid over a $Billion for the cleanup and paid a huge chunk in actual damages.

Punitive damages of that amount were clearly unwarranted, as the accident was a one-timer and liked to the actions/inactions of specific individuals, not he company at large.

[CondorFlight]

Whatever the outcome, no result can be said to be ‘justice’ if it takes nearly twenty years to achieve.

Some of the original individuals involved are probably dead.

The attorneys will reap fortunes from twenty years’ worth of fees, which is a crime in itself.

[Maverick68]

Ginsburg is an idiot. Being a southern gentleman (at times) I will leave my comment at that...

[count-your-change]

Three to four billion dollars isn’t enough? How much should the company pay out?

[SJSAMPLE]

Physical damages have already been adjudicated and paid.

Everybody left is just waiting for their payday on the punitive damages.